Aqua
by Jessie Wings
Summary: After Aqua was abandoned long ago, she became one of the people Neopia vowed to fight: a thief.
1. Aqua and Nath

A pair of sad, disheartened eyes stared out at the happy crowd buzzing around the marketplace. Happy owners buying battledome items for their pets, paintbrushes for their pets, toys, food, books, petpets... for their pets. No one ever bought anything for other pets. If you didn't have an owner, the best you could do was fight the fierce rabble at the Money Tree.

Unless you went into thievery, of course. That was how the disheartened eyes kept open and attentive, keeping their eyes peeled for easy pickings.

The eyes belonged to a Blue Uni called Aqua. She and her sister, a Yellow Aisha named Bal, were the people Neopia had fought and won against not two months earlier. They were thieves. But Neopia hadn't understood. How could they? They all had nice, large houses with soft beds and entertaining books. They took existence for granted. They were so upper-class and so snobby. They didn't see another world from their own. The world in which you had to WORK to merely survive, the world in which you did not feel an owner's tender comfort.

The thieves knew better than to trust these invaders. The Neopians of the day assumed that these Terran creatures, these "humans" were all nice and sweet. Most were brainwashed into thinking they were "Neopets", and that the Terran invaders were the Neopians. How could anyone be so stupid as to not realise they were an invaded world? Why were these humans not on their own planet? Why did Neopia have to be their new one?

Aqua sighed as she realised she was going to have no luck today. It was Arak's fault. He should have known that too many raids in a short amount of time would make the humans cautious. Now that meant no food for at least two days. Aqua took her fraying cloth bag and headed back to the Thieves' Lair.

It was cold and dark in this area of the Catacombs. The tunnels wound onwards and on, and tended to have stairs leading down much more than stairs leading up. Beyond these winding, endless tunnels, there was an abandoned temple, from the ancient days before these humans came and took over, taming Neopians and turning them into "Neopets" instead. This temple was the Thieves' lair, where operations began and ended. It was always dusty and dark, and there was no light source at all. The room seemed to glow an eerie bluish light, however, as you were always aware of the things happening around you. It seemed clear to Aqua why it had been a temple.

A darkish shape emerged from the shadows. The cloak and the darkness did not betray the identity of the thief, but the voice did. Arak, a large and ruthless Blue Gelert, and the leader, had a low, sinister voice. He surrounded himself with Yellow Skeiths even bigger than himself, and had no qualms with "removing" people from the scene. He very clearly hated Nath, who was younger, fitter, nicer and – though Aqua denied it – Bal was sure Aqua was in love with him.

"What did you get for me?" said the distinguishing low, quiet voice asked. "I trust you have not failed me this time."

"Sorry, sir," Aqua said, eyes downcast and staring at her hooves. "The humans seem to be more cautious, what with all the raids recently."

Arak was not a fool, and he realised Aqua's point.

"Listen, girl," he snarled. "I run an organisation here. You don't like the way it's organised, you get out and you don't come back. Don't try and tell me what to do, and don't try and pass off excuses. You have a job to do, you do it."

"Yes, sir," Aqua grumbled.

Arak was silent to the point where Aqua felt she had to look up to see if he were all right.

"Go!" yelled Arak. "Go! And don't come back until the job is done!"

Aqua fled. She ran through the winding passage ways as the blue light decreased and decreased and slowly turned into pure darkness. Before it got there, however, her tunnel ran straight into the bright fiery lights of the Catacombs. She sincerely wished she could just leave Arak's gang of thieves.

Aqua walked vaguely past the market she had been trying to rob just an hour earlier. She looked across at the bustling market filled with those idiotic humans and ignorant pets, when she saw a familiar face lurking. She saw him carefully slide over to a booth and look through the items for sale. When a human came along, Nath carefully took a couple of omelettes and walked away quietly.

"Nath!" exclaimed Aqua.

Nath looked up, somewhat alarmed – but calmed down when he saw it was only Aqua.

"Hey!" he greeted her. "Gave me a right shock then, you did."

"Sorry," Aqua smiled. "What did you get?"

Nath started to walk away from the Marketplace with Aqua, and answered, "omelettes. They last longer."

"Really?" Aqua wrinkled her nose. "That's odd."

"No, not really," answered Nath. "The omelette's so big that it serves three separate meals." He lowered his voice a little. "I've even heard that, far, far away, there's a giant omelette – a bigger one – that gives out the things."

"Really?" asked Aqua. "For free? Where?"

Nath shook his head. "The far lands to the east," he said almost wistfully.

"Lands far away are amazing, aren't they?" asked Aqua. "I saw Faerieland once when I was small."

"We should explore them one day," Nath said to her. They had stopped walking by now.

"Yeah," Aqua smiled, "we should."

"How did you go?" asked Bal to her big sister as she saw Aqua stroll – practically dancing – up to the hidden area beneath stairs in a block of flats that made their NeoHome.

"Pretty well," Aqua said.

"So you've brought dinner?" Bal asked – seemingly a little disappointed.

"Dinner?" asked Aqua. "No. Those raids recently, Arak's scared all the humans into caution." Her expression changed into one of surprise and wonder as she saw a Ummagine in Bal's sack. "Where did you get it?" She reached out gingerly to touch the purple fruit, as though it would disintegrate.

Bal laughed. "I found 10NP on the floor," she said. "I managed to buy three Ummagines..." she pulled out two similar purple vegetables from the sack.

Aqua didn't know what to say, but she spoke anyway. "We'll have to ration this out," she said. "One for dinner, one for tomorrow, one for the day after, one for breakfast in three days' time..."

Bal's face fell slightly. "We're so hungry all the time," she whinged. "Can't we have something nice to eat for once... like a carrot? And a WHOLE carrot, not just the usual one-quarter I get when we actually have carrots..."

Aqua was already tucking in to a quarter of the first Ummagine. Another quarter had been cut and pushed towards Bal, with the remaining half carefully stored in the sack with the other two, whole, Ummagines. Bal sighed but did not complain and bit into the purple food. Silence prevailed for a good ten minutes before Aqua spoke again.

"Nath was telling me," she said, "that there was a land far to the east that gave out free omelettes."

"Amazing," said Bal. She didn't mention how she secretly thought that Aqua was obsessed with Nath and whatever Nath said.

"He also said that maybe we should look around some of these foreign lands together," she smiled happily.

"You DO like him, don't you?" Bal smiled cheekily. She liked teasing her sister, as her sister liked teasing her.

"No!" denied Aqua stubbornly. "He's just... nice, and that's all."

"Sure," giggled Bal. "Sure."

"Sir," said a voice quickly. The voice came from a black-jacketed, sunglasses-wearing, Red Techo. He was bowing in front of a tall figure... the tall figure of Arak, to be exact.

"Well?" demanded Arak in his usual grumpy, arrogant tone. "What do you have to report?"

"As you are quite aware, my -"

"If I'm quite aware of it, why are you telling me?" Arak snapped sharply. He did not have the time to hear things if he already knew them.

The Red Techo paused and then bowed again. "Sorry, my lord. But this news is most useful to your quest... Nath has been spotted laughing with Aqua!"

"Yes?" snapped Arak. "And what am I supposed to do about it? As much as I dislike those airheaded Unis, I can't exactly forbid them from laughing with each other!"

"No, sir," said the Red Techo, "but they were laughing about leaving Neopia Central, and heading to the fabled Great Omelette to the far east!"

"Were they, now?" Arak considered. "Thank you, Mr. Tech, you have been most informative."

The Red Techo bowed very low, said, "glad to be of service, sir," and left. Arak started muttering to himself, thinking, comparing, considering...

"Insubordination... desertion... yes... that might just work..."

Then he turned around and sank low down onto his chair.

"But I have a better plan..."


	2. The Supreme Dilemma

"Sir," said a voice quickly. The voice came from a black-jacketed, sunglasses-wearing, Red Techo. He was bowing in front of a tall figure... the tall figure of Arak, to be exact.

"Well?" demanded Arak in his usual grumpy, arrogant tone. "What do you have to report?"

"As you are quite aware, my -"

"If I'm quite aware of it, why are you telling me?" Arak snapped sharply. He did not have the time to hear things if he already knew them.

The Red Techo paused and then bowed again. "Sorry, my lord. But this news is most useful to your quest... Nath has been spotted laughing with Aqua!"

"Yes?" snapped Arak. "And what am I supposed to do about it? As much as I dislike those airheaded Unis, I can't exactly forbid them from laughing with each other!"

"No, sir," said the Red Techo, "but they were laughing about leaving Neopia Central, and heading to the fabled Great Omelette to the far east!"

"Were they, now?" Arak considered. "Thank you, Mr. Tech, you have been most informative."

The Red Techo bowed very low, said, "glad to be of service, sir," and left. Arak started muttering to himself, thinking, comparing, considering...

"Insubordination... desertion... yes... that might just work..."

Then he turned around and sank low down onto his chair.

"But I have a better plan..."

Sometimes, when Aqua couldn't sleep, she thought. She thought herself to sleep. She wondered what her life would have been like had her owner not abandoned her. Yet it was worse than normal abandonment – she hadn't been dropped off in the pound and hadn't been given a chance at a newer, nicer owner. She had simply been left, her owner never to return.

After a period of fruitless waiting, Aqua and Bal left their old home and then they discovered Arak's elite group of thieves. Aqua convinced herself and her sister Bal that humans were invaders, idiots, and the real villains of Neopia.

However – and she felt guilty for even thinking this – deep in the bottom of her heart, she just wanted to be a normal Neopet in a nice house with food and, yes, one of those despicable humans...

"More raids!" spat the Chia Police Chief. "This is getting worse and worse. We need to make Neopia confident that we aren't entering a period of chaos like we did with the first Meridell War way back in year 4."

"How can we do that?" asked a Chia Police Constable. "We don't even know the ringleader."

"Reward money!" cried the Chia Police Chief confidently. "If we increase the reward money to 500,000NP, informants are bound to come forward!"

The Chia Police Constable looked on uncertainly."Increasing the reward money to 500,000NP isn't going to make people suddenly know about the raids."

"You're right," agreed the Chia Police Chief. "800,000NP it is."

Aqua had been summoned. She had to go to Arak's lair for a new mission. This meant that she wasn't just waiting around the marketplace for easy pickings, which Aqua was very grateful for.

She walked along the eerie blue cave towards Arak's lair, when she bumped into a familiar person.

"Nath!" she exclaimed happily. "Did Arak summon you too?"

"Yes," Nath nodded.

"Oh," Aqua sighed, secretly wanting to go on with 'this will be wonderful' but she wasn't sure if Nath would appreciate her saying that.

Aqua and Nath kept walking along the pathway, until they got to the bluest area of the blue cave: Arak's lair.

"You are late!" he declared angrily. "Time is money, and money is something we are rather short on at the moment!"

"Sorry, sir," Aqua mumbled, but Nath was much less repentant.

"You told us one o'clock, Arak, and here we are, and it's only twelve-fifty. What do you have to tell us?"

"The two of you have been selected to rob the National Neopian Bank," he told them, coldly.

"The National Neopian Bank?" Nath asked in disbelief. "Are you crazy, Arak? Are you quite right in the head?"

Arak gave Nath a withering look, and even Nath took that as a sign not to argue.

"When are we going?" Aqua asked quietly.

"Noon tomorrow," said Arak, scarcely masking how triumphant he was.

"With all respect, Arak... I am not robbing the National Neopian Bank in broad daylight! Madness..." Nath shook his head.

"You will, Nath," Arak said flatly. "You have no choice."

"There's always a choice!" Nath exclaimed.

"Well, yes, I suppose," Arak thought, "but the consequences aren't very nice for those who fail to carry out orders."

Nath sighed reluctantly. "Fine. Tomorrow it is. Come on, Aqua."

Aqua followed obligingly as Nath swept out of the dungeon, while Arak smirked. He took out a piece of paper and scibbled a short message onto it. When he was done, he folded it and scribbled two words on the empty front.

"Send this to the Chia Police, will you?" he asked one of his Yellow Skeith cronies.

"What do you MEAN you're supposed to rob the bank tomorrow?" Bal asked her sister, wide-eyed, which munching into a Ummagine. "And in broad daylight too? That's madness!"

"I know," Aqua replied. "Sometimes you have to wonder what goes through the head of that Arak. He can't really expect us to successfully pull off a robbery in the middle of the day, can he?"

"Of course not!" Bal threw the words savagely. "He's up to something sister, and you know it. Can't you escape Neopia or something?"

"No time," Aqua sighed. "Besides, where would we go? Meridell's closest, but is close a good thing? Would the Space Station or Kreludor be better? How would we get there?"

"You could refuse," Bal suggested hopefully.

"You think Arak'd let me do that?" Aqua laughed sourly. "No no no, certainly not. He'd send at least one of his yellow brutes after me. Or you."

Bal sighed. "You should have found a better gang of thieves," she remarked.

"Is there such a thing as a good gang of thieves?" Aqua asked to herself.

That night, while Aqua slept, Bal crept out from their hiding place under the stairs. It was raining, but she didn't care in the slightest. She found her way to the catacombs, lit only by the torches surrounding the chamber. She headed down a hidden, unlit passage. After a while, she ran and then bolted: she had to be there and back before Aqua woke up.

"Arak!" she cried, upon entering the ancient temple and the end.

"Lady Baline," Arak smiled warmly, holding what appeared to be a goblet of some exotic drink. "What do you want me to do for you?"

"Call off the bank robbery tomorrow!" Bal cried desperately, her fur flinging water everywhere from her walk in the rain. "Can't you see it's madness? Aqua and Nath will get caught for sure, you big... stupid... brainless idiot."

Arak stood up and walked in a large circle around her. "My dear Bal," he said, "you really ought to learn to let go of things. You're old enough to carve your own destiny."

Bal was flabbergasted. "You know they're going to be...? I mean, of course, but..." Bal paused, mouth wide open, then she turned around and bolted out the exit. She made her way through the long passage that would, eventually, let her out at the main chamber of the catacombs.

Arak turned to his cronies. "Get her," he ordered.

The Yellow Skeiths lumbered after Bal. Although she technically should have held the upper hand, the Yellow Aisha was tired from getting there in the first place and the Skeiths caught up. They took her in the opposite direction of where she was hoping to go, and back to Arak's lair.

"You shouldn't leave us so fast, Bal," Arak said, with no trace of the warm voice that had been his three minutes before. "You might be of use to us."

Bal was dragged away by a small group of the Yellow Skeiths, to some small cell where she was to be held captive.

Aqua woke up the next morning. She had suffered from terrible dreams overnight that usually involved the owner that had abandoned her reappearing and telling her there was another way. The rest of the dream was devoted to Arak, who laughed insanely at Aqua, no matter what she did. To her, that settled it: she was going to tell Arak that she would not participate in the robbery.

Well, at least that was her plan until she discovered Bal was missing. "Bal?" she cried. "Bal, where are you?"

_Probably off scavenging food somewhere,_ a little voice in Aqua's head reasoned. _She wouldn't try to do anything silly like dissuade Arak from his robbery..._

Aqua decided to go and tell Arak in the meantime that she was not participating, and that he should choose another thief instead. Maybe Laia, she was far more experienced...

It was a foggy day. Aqua headed through the fog and climbed into the catacombs, which was very wet and drippy due to being underground. She headed down the so familiar route to Arak's lair. And then she got there. Apparently Arak had expected her: he was standing right there in front of her.

"Aqua," he said severely. "You weren't thinking of disobeying my orders, were you?"

"I... I..." Aqua took a gulp and tried to calm down. "So what if I was? You don't have anything that can make me! I can leave the gang, go to the soup kitchen..."

"Bal is allergic to soup," Arak pointed out, almost casually.

"Well, yeah, but we could move to Tyrannia and both live on omelette instead..." she paused. "I didn't tell you Bal was allergic to soup!"

"You didn't need to," Arak said, "I discovered it when she refused to touch any this morning."

"This morning?" Aqua asked. "She didn't..." Finally, she clued on to all these subtle hints Arak had given her.

"That's right, Aqua. I have your sister."

Aqua gasped. This situation was not going to be easy to get out of...


	3. A Philosophical Twerp

"Aqua," he said severely. "You weren't thinking of disobeying my orders, were you?"

"I... I..." Aqua took a gulp and tried to calm down. "So what if I was? You don't have anything that can make me! I can leave the gang, go to the soup kitchen..."

"Bal is allergic to soup," Arak pointed out, almost casually.

"Well, yeah, but we could move to Tyrannia and both live on omelette instead..." she paused. "I didn't tell you Bal was allergic to soup!"

"You didn't need to," Arak said, "I discovered it when she refused to touch any this morning."

"This morning?" Aqua asked. "She didn't..." Finally, she clued on to all these subtle hints Arak had given her.

"That's right, Aqua. I have your sister."

Aqua gasped. This situation was not going to be easy to get out of...

A chubby Chief Chia Police Officer read the note given to him through about ten lower ranks of the Chia Police force. He read it and chuckled amusedly, munching happily on a packet of Cheesy Neos.

"Look at this!" he told his Chia Police Constable. "I told you raising the reward to 800,000NP would help!"

The Chia Police Constable took the note. "It tells you everything, sir!" the Constable exclaimed in surprise. For once in his superior's life, he had been right. "Aqua and Nath..." he paused. "Do these Aqua and Nath Unis have any criminal record?"

The Chief Chia Police Officer didn't bother to wipe Cheesy Neo crumbs off his fingers before tapping away at a laptop in front of him. "No," he confirmed. A pause, then, "hey, I'm the superior. I'm supposed to give the orders!"

"Right you are, sir, but I think it would be best to intercept -"

"Shut up, Constable. This is what I want your junior to do: they must intercept the thieves and take them in for questioning. Then, this Anonymous person will step forward and will give him 800,000NP for his remarkable effort."

The Constable just managed to resist snorting. Yes, it took a lot of effort to write a note.

Aqua ran away from Arak's lair quickly. What should she do? Save Bal and go on with the raid? Save herself and Nath and refuse? Could she think of a way to both refuse and save Bal? If she could, that would obviously be the best option.

Aqua wandered dejectedly through the central shopping district. Outrageous bundles of clothes waddled out of the clothing boutique. Aqua didn't bother to wonder why many of them ended up stuck with sunglasses in winter. It was simply to insignificant to bother her troubled mind with. Even if she had a plan, she had no idea where Nath was, and therefore she couldn't tell him.

To ease the pressure on her mind, and possibly with some vague notion of revenge for all the times her feet were trodden on, Aqua decided to practise some simple pickpocketing. After being bonked on the head several times by angry potential victims, Aqua decided that she was a bit too distracted to pickpocket successfully that day.

As the crowd bustled relentlessly around her, Aqua was aware of her name being called. Looking around, she couldn't see anyone for all the crazy winter clothes and tall owners. Finally, with a little pushing and shoving of her own, she finally located a furious Nath in the crowd. Not furious at her, thankfully.

"Aqua!" Nath repeated upon walking closer. He's familiar face was rather comforting to Aqua, who was feeling slightly overwhelmed by the large crowds. "Do you know what that vile man's gone and done?"

"Held my sister hostage," Aqua replied glumly. "He's despicable. Just so we can give him his stupid few million NP! Who needs a few million NP? I'd be happy with 2,000..."

Nath nodded. "But do you know what else he did, Aqua?"

"No..."

"That vile man tipped the Chia Police off!" With some difficulty because he was a Uni, Nath started to drag a confused Aqua after him as he ran away from the crowds.

"What?" Aqua decided that was a useless question and amended it. "How? Why?"

"When we go to rob the bank, the Chia Police will be there, if all goes according to plan, to arrest us! And not only that, Arak earns 800,000NP for his efforts!"

"But why?"

Nath shrugged. "Maybe he heard us talking about the fabled Omelette," he replied. "At any rate, he's made sure to give you a dilemma."

Aqua was horrified, and as a result ignored Nath's 'you', assuming it to be one of those words you say instead of another while panicking. "What do we do?" she asked. "If we carry out Arak's plans... if we don't..."

Nath looked down somewhat ashamedly. "I think the best thing to do would be to go into hiding," he told her quietly. "Or, not hiding as such. Start a new life on another world. Arak and the Police would never bother us again."

Aqua looked at him. Her eyes were full of, if Nath had dared look at them, hurt and surprise. "But we can't just leave Bal," she protested, her voice with the same expression Nath had not seen.

"What would Bal say if she were here now?" Nath asked soothingly – almost reasonably. Only, it wasn't a reasonable remark, at least not to Aqua.

"Well," Aqua thought, "she'd tell us to leave her behind. But Bal is noble. Leaving her behind is nothing more than a wet cop out. You do know that, Nath."

"Well, what do you propose we do?" Nath asked kindly.

Aqua considered this question. Finally emerging from the bustling crowd, Aqua felt it was safe to speak. "When Arak leaves his lair to gloat over our organised demise – as he undoubtedly will – we strike," she told him confidently.

"Yellow Skeiths will be swarming the lair," Nath protested. Aqua shook her head adamantly.

"They are slow," she insisted desperately. "If we can get past them, we can free Bal."

"They are strong," Nath argued. "If they catch us, we're toast. You don't understand, Aqua. One death is much better than three."

Aqua stared at him. Maybe Bal's capture had juggled her perspective a bit, but Nath was starting to look far less like her idolised hero of years past and much more like a philosophical twerp . Despite the fact that he was the taller. "Are you an idiot?" she asked wildly. "Two deaths is far better than one if the alternative is lifelong guilt!"

"Lifelong guilt?" Nath asked. "You would put your life – and mine – on the line to prevent lifelong guilt?"

Aqua paused and nodded. "Of course! Even better than any of those options is no deaths at all. Are you coming, Nath?" Nath paused hesitantly. "Nath?"

Nath let out a resigned groan. "All right, Aqua. You win."

Aqua and Nath waited impatiently in a dark alcove of the Catacombs. Aqua would have longed for a nice cup of coffee to wake her up, but she had no money and stealing a cup would simply not be worth the effort, especially since Arak could exit his lair at any time and it wouldn't take long for him to realise that Aqua and Nath weren't going to turn up. Finally, a heavily cloaked Blue Gelert left the dark and mysterious tunnel. Aqua surged through it, followed closely by Nath, until it widened and they could walk together. The tunnel continued to widen until it was wide enough to fit four Skeiths, side by side, quite comfortably. Which is just what they saw.

Arak had left all of his Skeiths in a large, impenetrable block some ten feet before the entrance of the ruined temple. The immensely huge Skeiths would have been a terrifying, intimidating force to most pets, but as Skeiths can't fly and Unis can – well, they weren't exactly a good defence. Aqua and Nath soared over the block and through the rest of the tunnel as the Skeiths stomped rather slowly in comparison to follow.

"Bal! Bal!" Aqua yelled through the bars of Bal's cell. The Yellow Aisha stood up excitedly at her sister's voice.

"Aqua! Aqua!" the Yellow Aisha wailed. "Sister, help me!"

Aqua nodded. She groaned furiously as she discovered the door was locked. Well, of course it was locked. It was Arak's lair. He wasn't going to go and leave his prisoners in unlocked cells. Since when have evil people done that?

Aqua began to panic as the Skeiths lumbered into the room and made a sudden break for the trio. In a final, desperate attempt, Aqua smashed her shoulder into the door. The wood made a sickening crunch and broke entirely, enabling Bal to run away.

"Come on, Aqua!" she yelled at her sister desperately. "They're coming!"

Aqua shook her head. "I never knew wood was so painful," she muttered. Standing up, it was revealed that Aqua's entire left side was pierced with chips of smashed wood, and blood slowly seeped through.

Bal was understandably perplexed. "What do I do?" she wailed.

"Go with Nath," Aqua ordered. "Leave me. I'll slow you down."

Bal nodded sadly. The Yellow Skeiths started bearing down upon her, and with a final shriek, Nath dragged her away. Aqua moaned in pain as she lay on the floor of the cell. It didn't matter if the Skeiths killed her or not. She had too many holes in her side to live. And so, Aqua blanked out.

Bal and Nath escaped the Catacombs, no longer being pursued by big, fat, ugly Skeiths.

"What do we do?" Bal asked her sister's male friend sadly. "Where do we go?"

Nath shrugged. "Well, one thing's certain for me. I'm giving up this life of crime. Even better than seeking the Giant Omelette, I shall seek the fabled Giant Jelly of Jelly World."

Bal attempted a smile. "But there's no such thing as Jelly World."

Nath grinned. "I'd bet you a hundred NP on that, but I don't have any."

"Well, neither do I."

"Well, who's going to see if there is actually a Jelly World?"

"You will, of course," Bal answered.

"But what if I come back and you think I'm lying, eh? Why don't you come with me?"

"Well, because -" Bal paused. Why? Not Aqua. Not the thiefhood. (We all saw how well that turned out.) Changing her mind, Bal said, "I'd love to, Nath."

Nath grinned. "Excellent. Now for the fare evasion."


End file.
